This invention relates to improvements in and concerning a fastening means for a rearview mirror in an automobile interior such that the rearview mirror will fall off the automobile body under an impact.
As widely known, rearview mirrors used inside existing automobiles are devised so that when human bodies collide with them in case of accidental sudden deceleration of automobiles in motion and the impacts involved happen to exceed a certain level, the rearview mirrors will readily fall from the automobile bodies to preclude otherwise possible infliction of injuries to the human bodies. The rearview mirrors of this type heretofore proposed, however, are so constructed that their attachment to the automobile bodies necessitates a complicated and time-consuming work. Once these rearview mirrors fall off the automobile bodies because of collisions and other accidents, their repair is not easy. Thus, the conventional rearview mirrors have posed problems.
Among the conventional fastening means for rearview mirrors, for example, is counted the fastening means of the type which comprises a base adapted to be directly fastened with screws to the automobile body and a fastening piece integrally formed at the basal end of a supporting arm extended from the rearview mirror proper.
This fastening means secures the rearview mirror on the automobile body by setting the base fast on the automobile body with several setscrews, then mounting the fastening piece of the mirror proper directly on the base, and driving separate setscrews through the fastening piece fast into the screw sockets formed in advance in the base. A thin-walled portion is formed around the edges of the screw sockets in the base. When shocks are exerted to bear on the mirror proper, the thin-walled portion breaks under the impact and consequently causes the fastening piece to fall from the automobile body in conjunction with the portion encompassed by the screw sockets while the base less the portion is left behind on the automobile body, permitting the rearview mirror to fall off the automobile body.
In this conventional fastening means, part of the base, namely, the portions surrounding the screw sockets are destined to break when the mirror proper falls from the automobile body under the impact as described above. When the fallen part of the fastening means is desired to be secured again on the automobile body, therefore, the remaining base must be replaced with a new one. At the same time, the several setscrews formerly used in setting the base fast on the automobile body also require replacement with new setscrews. This fastening means contains weak portions around the screw sockets formed in advance in the base. If the setscrews to be used for setting the fastening piece to the base are handled roughly, therefore, there is a possibility that the impact of the rough handling will break these weak portions. Special care to be exercised in handling the setscrews has a possibility of causing a delay in the work involved.